Weekend Interview – Pardon Us, Pop Punk from Liverpool

I have Pardon Us as todays Play of the Day and with that in mind thought I’d send the band some questions. Their live set at Rebellion was a refreshing taste of low-fi pop punk played with a reverance to the punk scene but sounding nothing like many of the other bands who played. Regardless Rebellion seemed like a home fixture as this is a band with roots very much dug in diy punk rock. Pardon Us opened up the festival and it was a perfect start

1) So Everything Sucks gives you a chance to put together a gig with 5 bands of your choice in any venue. Who would you have on the bill and where would it be?

Morgan: Craft Taproom on Smithdown road does some great stuff, and is really near my house! Band-wise, there are very many I’d love to host, but off the top of my head, maybe Martha, Worriers, Misfortune Cookie and Fresh. And we’d put ourselves on too, obvs.

Alex: I’m not wasting the ‘reality not an object’ opportunity here. ALL (or Descendents, I’m not fussy), Propagandhi, Iron Chic, Martha, Lemuria. Any of several great venues in Liverpool that have now ceased to exist – the Kazimier or Maguire’s in particular.

Gabby: For me I’d have Against Me, Mobina Galore, Off with Their Heads, RVIVR and Don Blake on, I’d have an awesome time at this gig! Again they don’t exist now, but Mello Mello or Maguires.

2) I’m struck by Carry On. It is an ode to so many people doing creative work in punk rock. Do you think people have an urge that will just never go away? What happens when we are collecting our pensions, how will we be carrying on then?

Gabby: I’ll drum till my arms fall off so theres no age limit as far as I am concerned to punk or music in general.
Alex: Punks don’t need to worry about being marketable (or even liked) so no age cap. I plan to keep going as long as I have the will +/- physical ability.
Morgan: I hate the idea that there’s an age limit to this stuff, and people should never be made to feel bad for keeping doing what they love. I’m inspired by loads of young bands, but also equally by someone like Mackie, who was right there back in the day with Blitz, and is still absolutely tearing it up at 59 with Epic Problem. That’s definitely something to celebrate and aspire to.

3) What era is the “good old days”? For me it is the late 80’s as bands started playing out a bit more and diy spaces were popping up all over. My nostalgia for mail harks back to those days, waiting for the postie to arrive, hoping your parcel would arrive. Is it just nostalgia though as things are readily accessible meaning I have access to so many good music, videos or reads at my finger tips

Alex: I got into punk too late for the good old days, so for me they’re right now! There are plenty of bands I would have loved to have seen in their prime, but playing punk now has introduced me to my new favourite ones.
Morgan: I suppose my ‘good old days’ would be the late ’90s/early 2000s, when I’d arrived in Liverpool, and was discovering the DIY scene, forming first bands and touring for the first time. Each era definitely has pros and cons, and the internet helps in loads of ways, but there was something to be said for having to work a little harder to get into punk, rather than having everything in front of you at the click of a button…

4) When you say there’s no place like home, is that an ode to Liverpool or somewhere for all to relate to?

Morgan: Ohm as a song is definitely about Liverpool, where we’ve all made our home, in spite of our different backgrounds. It was written following a few years when a load of good pals in the punk scene had moved on to other cities or even countries, with a view to reminding people that Liverpool is boss, and that they should come back!

5) You seem to be a band very much based in the diy punk scene with a lo-fi pop tune sound. Is that diy scene important or really a stepping stone for beginners? A place to serve your apprenticeships maybe?

Alex: If it wasn’t for DIY music I don’t think I’d be doing this at all – it makes punk so much more accessible to people like me who have no idea what they’re doing.
Morgan: I think the DIY scene is vital to us as an end in itself. We have no expectations of future rock stardom, or even of making a living from music, so the DIY scene is just a brilliant creative outlet, as well as a way to meet cool people from all over the world, travel to places we’d otherwise be we go and see loads of great bands! There are some DIY acts who are amazing and have worked extremely hard, for whom the scene has acted as a stepping stone to bigger things, and that’s great. However, there are definitely occasionally bands who try to dip their toe into DIY briefly to soak up a little credibility before moving swiftly along to the next stage of their career, and I’m not into that. Fucking tourists!

6) Warfarin Blues? Is that from a personal perspective? Is it important for bands to sing about things like that or just another lyric for you?

Morgan: Warfarin Blues is a true tale of woe, detailing my run-in with deep vein thrombosis of the shoulder a few years ago, which could easily have resulted in an loss of my left arm, and the abrupt curtailment of my guitar playing ambitions. I can joke about it now, but it definitely caused me to look at things from a new perspective…

7) How did the split with Only Strangers come about? I note the artwork is very minimal, with no contact for either band or or the label on it. Was that a conscious decision?

Gabby: The artwork just came about from an idea I had, it wasn’t really linked to anything in the music, so from that sense its pretty random. There wasn’t a particular reasoning to leave the artwork very minimal, honestly I didn’t really think that it needed anything else so it ended up minimal as a bi-product of me thinking it was done!

8) Let’s mention Brexit eh. Time is creeping up. Liverpool had 58% Remain and alongside Scotland and Northern Ireland it is fairly pro European. A huge amount of Northern England want to leave though, why do you reckon that’s the case. A huge amount of working class support has been received for the UK to opt out, with some trade unions even advocating that position. The financiers will continue to move their money and capitalism will still look to survive, is there any way out the mess?

Alex: People voted leave for all sorts of reasons, but the lies of a few self-serving individuals swung a lot of those on the fence. The ensuing shit show speaks for itself. It won’t be Armageddon but standards of living will fall, and as usual those without the means to compensate will suffer.
Morgan: Whilst I’m sure there was a fair bit amount of anti-immigrant/racist sentiment at play, I’ve spoken to quite a lot of leave voters, and for the most part, they were just really ill-informed, believing tabloid lies or baseless campaign promises, without looking into it any further. It’s pretty bleak, but we’ll middle through somehow. Won’t we…?

Self-titled EP out now on Everything Sucks Music

niallhope